[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 14, Volume 5]

[Revised as of January 1, 2006]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 14CFR1240.105]



[Page 197-198]

 

                     TITLE 14--AERONAUTICS AND SPACE

 

                          SPACE ADMINISTRATION

 

PART 1240_INVENTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS--Table of Contents

 

       Subpart 1_Awards for Scientific and Technical Contributions

 

Sec. 1240.105  Special procedures--NASA and NASA contractor employees.



    (a) A NASA Headquarters office, a NASA field installation, or a NASA 

contractor may submit to the Board an application for an award 

identifying the originator(s) of any scientific or technical 

contribution conceived or developed during the performance of a NASA 

program or contract, and which is considered to be of value in advancing 

the state of knowledge in space or aeronautical activities, whether or 

not the contribution is the subject of a NASA Tech Brief, software 

approved for public release, or of a U.S. patent application.

    (b) The Board will recommend to the Administrator or a designee that 

an initial award of at least $1,000 be granted to a sole inventor, or 

$500 each to joint inventors, upon submittal of NASA Form 1688 by either 

the Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property, for an 

invention made and reported by a NASA Headquarters employee or an 

employee of a NASA Headquarters contractor, or a patent counsel at a 

NASA field installation for an invention made and reported by an 

employee of that installation or by an employee of an installation 

contractor, has filed a nonprovisional U.S. patent application or that a 

continuation-in-part or divisional patent has been issued. The Board is 

authorized to recommend a supplemental monetary award in an amount that 

will be based on the evaluation of the technical and commercial merits 

of the invention. No additional award will be given for a continuation 

patent application where an initial award was authorized for the parent 

application and this parent application will be or has been abandoned. 

In addition, initial awards will not be granted for provisional 

applications under 35 U.S.C. 111(b) or reissue applications under 35 

U.S.C. 251.

    (c) When the Board receives written notice (NASA Form 1688) that a 

NASA Center has approved for release to qualified users a software 

package based on an innovation made and reported by an employee of NASA 

or a NASA contractor on NASA Form 1679, the Board will recommend to the 

Administrator or designee that an initial award of at least $1,000 be 

granted to a sole innovator, and an award of at least $500 will be 

granted to each originator of the innovation if there is more than one. 

The Board is authorized to recommend a supplemental monetary award in an 

amount that will be based on the evaluation of the technical and 

commercial merits of the innovation. No contribution may receive this 

award unless:

    (1) NASA has an ownership interest in the software; i.e., NASA has 

the unrestricted use of the software in perpetuity at no charge from any 

other entity;

    (2) The software is of commercial quality; i.e., is not in 

experimental or beta phases of development and includes documentation, 

either in paper or electronic formats, describing the software's form 

and function;

    (3) The software has been verified to perform the functions claimed 

in its documentation on the platform for which it was designed without 

harm to the systems or data contained within; and,

    (4) The software has been distributed to qualified users upon the 

written approval for release by Center management.

    (d) Software dissemination awards are not eligible to receive 

selected Tech Brief awards based upon the publication of an announcement 

of availability in ``NASA Tech Briefs.''

    (e) When the Board receives written notice (NASA Form 1688) that a 

NASA Center has approved for publication a selected NASA Tech Brief 

based on an innovation made and reported by an employee of NASA or a 

NASA contractor on NASA Form 1679, the Board will recommend to the 

Administrator or designee that an initial award of at least $350 be 

granted, and an award of at least that amount will be granted to



[[Page 198]]



each originator of the innovation. The Board is authorized to recommend 

a supplemental monetary award in an amount that will be based on the 

evaluation of the technical and commercial merits of the innovation.

    (f) When a selected NASA Tech Brief has been approved for 

publication, and/or a NASA Center has approved the release of a software 

package, and/or the filing of a U.S. patent application has been 

authorized for the same contribution, the initial awards authorized in 

paragraphs (b), (c), and (e) of this section will be cumulative.

    (g) Initial awards authorized in paragraphs (b), (c), and (e) of 

this section may not exceed a total of $5,000 per category. Such cases, 

wherein a large number of multiple innovators are contributors, must be 

submitted for formal evaluation by the Board on a NASA Form 1329 or 

1329A.

    (h) Awards authorized in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (e) of this 

section will not be granted to a contributor who has previously received 

full compensation for, or on account of, the use of such a contribution 

by the United States.

    (i) If a contribution, as first reported and evaluated, is judged 

not to merit a supplemental award, as provided for in paragraphs (a), 

(b), (c), or (e) of this section, or the contribution is later proved to 

be of more significant value, it may be submitted for reevaluation on 

NASA Form 1329A. Responsible NASA and NASA contractor officials are 

encouraged to periodically review such reported contributions, and to 

resubmit them for reconsideration through the same channels as 

originally reported.